Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Richard (the joiner) and I spent a sizeable portion of the day “brainstorming” the layout of the back cabin and main bedroom. It was a very fruitful discussion which has resulted in a way forward that is mutually acceptable.

Three critical issues needed to be resolved in the back cabin. They were:

Would the washer/dryer fit and where.

Where to locate the freezer

How to make the single inline bed extend to a double.

We removed the packing from the washer/dryer and it looked huge! I was quite relieved when it was successfully moved onto Waiouru. Darren and Richard carried it through the cratch door and then through the other three doorways to the back cabin. At least we know large appliances can be moved on or off the boat without much difficulty! The machine was positioned in the centre of the starboard (right) side. Then we moved it as far to the stern as possible without fouling the passageway.

It’s a snug fit but the washer/dryer just clears the passageway which is the plywood join on the floor.

After measuring the Engel freezer it will fit longitudinally on top of the washer. We will mount it on heavy duty drawer slides so it can be pulled into the passageway to access the lid. By pulling it out we will have room for a storage cupboard above. The freezer is actually slightly longer than the width of the washer. Richard is going to make this void beside the washer into a narrow vertical storage area. I will probably keep the folding chair for the work station in it.

To the left of the washer will be the small work station (700mm wide). It will have a folding desktop with a cupboard above for the printer/scanner. To the right will be the wet locker for jackets, etc.

After considering a range of options for extending the bed we have agreed the extension will be made of four removable sections. Each will have a hinged side “leg” which will fold down and lock into the floor to create a right angle section. When the bed doesn’t need to be extended these sections will fold up and be stored under the bed.

Richard then completed the timber shelving in the display cabinet.

The top shelf will have a cupboard door and will contain all the electrical connections. The second shelf will have a glass door and hold the media tank. The large open area in the middle has been drilled for adjustable glass shelving and will have a glass door. The lower section will have a timber cupboard door. I was thinking of installing LED backlighting in the glass section but Jan has ruled this out stating “I don’t want to illuminate the dust!”

One of the tasks for tomorrow is to make up the templates for the fireplace slate cladding.

Richard and I then spend a good part of an hour discussing the detail for the main bedroom layout. We’ve decided to go with a ‘comb’ extension to our cross-over bed. We also discussed and measured various options for the height of the bed. Because the width of the hull increases as it rises to the gunwale (curve of the hull) the bed actually gets longer the higher it is off the floor. However if the bed was too high off the floor we might find our foreheads touching the underside of the gunwale. In the end I decided the base of the mattress would be 18” above the floor. On this will be 8” of mattress; which gives us approximately 14” of headroom.

The other completed task was to cut the hole in the shower floor for the waste trap. Then we cut a “trench” through the plywood floor to route the waste pipe to the pump. I must remember to take a photo of it tomorrow.

This blog is about us, Tom and Jan.
After a decade of travelling from 'down-under' every two years to spend a brief few weeks having a wonderful canal holiday we decided to eliminate the travel and do it full time on retirement. In 2011 we moved to the UK and built Waiouru before spending 6 wonderful years cruising.
In 2017 we sold our lovely boat and moved back to Perth, West Australia where other adventures are on the 'bucket list'.